Nerd Factory Update: Abraham

Introducing everyone's favourite angry ginger, Abraham:

'Motherdick'

This guys was a pleasure to paint; simple colour scheme but plenty of great details.
The hardest thing was probably getting the shade of orange for his hair and moustache just right, but it was worth the effort as it really helps the green fatigues pop.
Abraham is also the only mini so far with a 'scenic' base, containing the remains of a fallen Walker.
This too is a fantastic little mini in-and-of itself; great expression, good proportions and a gnarly ragged torso hanging off the back!
Similar stat-wise in-game to Negan, Abraham is the next most powerful character in the game so far which makes him a good choice for going up against the leader of the Saviours!

Another great gaming miniature from Mantic!

Nerd Factory Update: Negan

Next up from Mantic's The Walking Dead: All Out War is Negan:

'It's going to be pee pee pants city here real soon...'

Negan is from the Kickstarter pledge and is one of my favourite miniatures, based on an icon panel from the comic books. The sculpt is tight with great detail and full of character, as befits the leader of the Saviors.

'Pardon my French...'

I chose a colour scheme based more on Jeffery Dean Morgan's portrayal of Negan on the TV show, and am pretty pleased with how it turned out (as is my wife who has already called dibs on him as her preferred character!)

In-game, Negan is a total beast of a character, as is reflected in his points cost, and looks like he'll be pretty tough to beat...

Another welcome addition from Mantic!

Nerd Factory Update: Michonne

Next up from Mantic's The Walking Dead: All Out War is Michonne:

Slice and dice

Michonne is from the Kickstarter pledge, and overall is a fine miniature. I love the dynamism of the pose on this one, but must say I do feel like the sculpt is a bit soft compared to some of the other miniatures. Also, I realise her pants are meant to be tight, but a few more wrinkles would have added a bit more texture for painting!

It's worth noting that the katana is nice and sturdy though, so should hold up well in play. Overall another great mini from Mantic.

Nerd Factory Update: Rick Grimes

After receiving my Kickstarter copy of The Walking Dead: All Out War by Mantic a few months back I have finally started to get some miniatures and scenery painted.

First up is Rick Grimes:

Rick with hatchet and pistol

The miniature is a great representation of his appearance in the comic, with a nice mix of both Charlie Adlard and Tony Moore to my eye.

Fairly straightforward paint job, but I have tried to keep the colours pretty muted and to a minimum.

Also pictured are some of the barricades, objective markers and one of the vehicles contained in the scenery booster. I got these as part of the Kickstarter pledge, but they are well worth picking up.

The 'crawler' is also from the Kickstarter set and I will feature her in greater detail in a later post!

This is the first time I have used textured paints for basing; usually I prefer to print textures for consistency and glue them to a laser cut mdf base, but the hard plastic nature of the miniatures put me off trying to separate them from their integral bases. I used a thick coat of Agrellan Earth for the main area, dotted with some Agrellan Badland. I gave this a black wash, drybrushed with a putty colour, re-washed with an old Citadel flesh tone then finished with a lighter putty drybrush. Pretty pleased with how they have turned out so far! The textured paints I used are from Games Workshop and can be found here.

Nerd Factory Update: Pirate Ship Map

To get the most out of my pirate miniatures, I decided that a multi-level ship map would come in very handy for a more 'dungeon-crawl' style game when they are away from Pirate Town. Enter Heroic Maps once again!

The as-yet-unnamed pirate vessel...

Rather than the standard flat map layout, I am pasting each layer onto mount board to add depth and have made extra copies of the fore and aft decks so play can take place on multiple levels (essentially creating a '2.5D' layout).

Barrels and crates will be added to the different areas as the game progresses and the pirates search the ship.

Photos of the completed board to follow...

The Heroic Maps set is titled 'The Auspice' and is available to purchase and download here.

Nerd Factory Update: Pirate Ship

Decided to try my hand at a bit of transportation for the pirates:

The new ride

This is the excellent Patrol Boat from Dave Graffam Models. Just download the file, choose which colours, livery etc you want from the multiple layers available and print. I used 150gsm card to print on, and cut out the pieces with a craft knife before edging them with a brown Sharpie. It was then a simple matter of following the clear and concise instructions; 30 minutes or so later the Pirates were ready to plunder the high seas!

Nerd Factory Update: Pirate Captain Edward Kenway

My wife is a huge fan of the Assassin's Creed game series, so when it came to her Pirate Captain he could only be called one thing; Captain Edward Kenway.

Silent Assassin

Another great miniature from Black Scorpion Miniatures' Pirates range, he came from the same pack as Captain Freeman (Pirates 3).

A resin miniature like the other three in the pack,he was quick to prep and great to paint, with lots of great details that really add to the character.

Mounted on an MDF base, he doesn't quite have the heft I prefer in my minis, but I am sure he will be resilient enough for casual gaming!